A holistic view on the festival experience implies more than loud speakers, great bands and DJ’s, or enthusiastic crowds. Since you’re happy to leave your normal comfort zone for an extra-sensorial short-term experience in a new place, you might take into consideration festival’s surroundings and how the physical location might affect your experience.
So this text goes for all the outdoor music lovers out there, where wild camping meets awesome gigs, and people blend in with beautiful natural landscapes.
Here are five European music festivals that will take you deep into the Nature’s nest and offer you the perfect mix between music and wilderness:
1. Freqs of Nature (Niedergörsdorf, GERMANY)
This under-the-radar festival is happening just 70 km outside Berlin and gathers annually a large community of clubbing Berliners that come here every summer to celebrate good electronic music and creative land-art.
The nearby forest landscape is transformed into epic land art that is used for building stages, dance floors, chill out areas or beautiful sculptures.
It’s the perfect place to experience a small scale Burning Man festival, with the mention that the German Freqs philosophy is more orientated towards sustainable art and environmental friendly areas.
In 2016 there were six impeccable decorated music floors: Forest Floor, with deeply psychedelic and experimental music, Groove Floor – driving grooves, deep rhythms and uplifting beats, Kreuz&Quer – modern electronica – Relaxperimental stage – IDM and relaxed electronica – and Dub Playground - finest Dub Soundsystems Digitron and Serendubity.
The Freqs of Nature 2017 edition will be held between 5th and 11th of July. You can already find pre-sales tickets on their website.
2. Wilderness (Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND)
This British festival is a journey away from civilization and city life: a chance to be immersed in nature and to sleep in the ancient surrounds of Cornbury Park.
There’s a huge line-up of music artists every year, so don’t worry: you won’t be missing fun while, at the same time, starting a fabulous glamping trip near the lake at The Lakeside Spa.
Sleeping under canvas is part of the experience: the organizers prepared bell tents and tipi accommodation for a three-days magical experience. Yurts and Gipsy Wagons are also an option for every festival nomad’s dreams to become completely fulfilled.
The infamous Lakeside Spa transports you from the colorful whirlwind of the festival into a luxurious tranquility. What a proposition: a hidden glade beside a crystal clear swimming lake, replete with wood-fired hot tubs and sauna hewn from the finest red cedar and meticulously maintained by Bathing Under The Sky.
The real jewel in Wilderenss’ crown is Cornbury park itself: enduring beauty and a sense of untouched grandeur encircled by a ribbon of ornamental lakes. Enjoy your walk from the campsites to the festival each day; trace the edges of the lake, meander through the ancient oak trees or splash beneath the waterfall. You are invited to explore and enjoy the park: it’s as much part of the show as the music or arts.
Last year’s Wilderness edition gathered artists from different musical backgrounds, such as Parov Stelar, Matt Corby or Robert Plant. In 2017, the festival will take place in the warm month of August, between 3rd and the 6th.
3. Transylvania Calling (Apuseni Mountains, ROMANIA)
A Psychedelic Goa Trance Festival like no other, hidden deep in the Carpathian Mountains of legendary Transylvania, where the vampire myths were born.
Happening at high altitude, in a fairy-like landscape, the story of this less known psychedelic festival dates for more than ten years and promises to transport you in a zone of mental liberation through music and dance.
The rural, stuck-in-time and idyllic landscape you will experience during day time, transforms itself during the night. Lights, electronic beats, jugglers, trolls and fairies take over the forest and immerse in fabulous parties, that last until the sun rises again.
For the lovers of this electronic music genre, ATMA, MERKABA or PSYBUDDY are just a few names that made it to the main stage last year. The long-lasting night parties are fulfilled by amazing sunlight and the chill out beats of the mornings.
Walking through these almost untouched forests can be a crazy trip in itself, as long as you’re not afraid of werewolves or getting lost. The festival is happening at the end of July, but you have to be aware that summers in the Transylvanian mountains can get really cold during the night.
4. Midnigh Sun Festival (Værøy, Arctic Circle, NORWAY)
We’re not leaving the psychedelic electronic scene just to tell you about this insane festival happening for more than a week near the Arctic Circle. Where the sun never sets!
The amazing landscape of the Værøy island, up-up the very North of Norway, is getting hyper-real at Midnight Sun celebration.
Basically, we’re talking about a week with no darkness at all: the sun doesn’t leave the stage, there is daylight for so many hours and the music pumps the beats all day long. Add to this the wild mountains and the close-by waters of the Norwegian Sea, a crazy-dancing crowd of new age hippies and you got the picture: freedom in it’s pure form.
5. Boom Festival (Idanha-a-Nova Lake, PORTUGAL)
BOOM of Portugal probably needs no presentation, as it is one famous European festival with massive interest from all over the world. But if you didn’t check its Environmental approach yet, you might miss some of the greatest features this huge festival has to offer in terms of landscape and organic living.
Boom’s philosophy is oriented towards changing the festival experience as such. It’s mission? Festivals must provide tools for change. It is Boom's commitment to create a reality that relates positively with the environment and contributes to the education and knowledge of all.
By attending the great BOOM this year, you will be able to learn from its 20 years experience of several pioneering projects in Sustainable energy resources, Sanitation (Compost Toilets), On site Water Treatment, Reuse of materials for building and reduced consumption, Regeneration of habitats and ecosystems, Recycling and composting of waste, Promotion of public transportation, cycling and car-sharing to reduce CO2 emissions, Eco-Art and many more.
Idanha-a-Nova lake is the best place to experience change, live harmoniously with the nature, to network with people alike and, of course, party like there’s no tomorrow.
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